Sure, the Islanders looked like a team that was a ladder and a bucket of confetti away from playing the Harlem Globetrotters. But it’s easy to forget that as recently as Sept. 7, Crosby didn’t absolutely rule out the possibility of retirement.

There is really no explaining this, though hundreds, thousands are trying. How did Sidney Crosby score that seemingly effortless goal that won the Olympic gold medal for Canada? How did he carry his team to the Stanley Cup so young? How did he score on his very first shot back from nearly 11 months of being out with concussion?

In short, Crosby doesn’t create the rage of rebuttal that Tebow’s football detractors have. In that way, he is angst-free, except if your team is playing his team on some given evening. But he does make his fans go all gape-faced and slack-jawed just like Tebow’s, and that is an inescapable fact. So it’s true — every sport should have a Tim Tebow, or a Sidney Crosby. Just because they so tug at your eyes.

His speed was startling, his backhand a weapon, his navigation around the ice and in tight spots just about what it was. He talked of a few “little things” he felt were lacking, and was a little sheepish when he looked up to the giant scoreboard and saw himself mouthing a rather obvious curse word in exultation after the first goal.

Much like the medical details during Crosby’s almost year-long battle with a concussion, not much is known about the ultimate decision to let him return to game action. Crosby left California more than two weeks ago to have a weekend session with at least one member of his medical team, which includes Dr. Charles Burke (the Penguins team doctor and the man who cleared Crosby), clinical neuropsychologist Micky Collins and Ted Carrick, a chiropractor who specializes in dealing with concussions.

It might be corny to draw the comparison, but it’s difficult to ignore the parallels between Crosby’s comeback game versus Mario Lemieux’s comeback game from his retirement Dec. 27, 2000. Both were resounding 5-0 wins. Both comeback players got a handful of points. And both games will be “where-were-you” moments for hockey fans.

Crosby joked Monday morning that he was just hoping to contribute, and that he wasn’t thinking about returning immediately to the player he was at the time of his concussion when he was the NHL’s leading scorer. But Monday’s performance suggests the space between the uncertainties of Crosby’s career post-concussion and being that top-of-the-line player is much narrower than most believed.

And, for the record, we like TSN’s Pierre McGuire, but this, from Puck Daddy, is entertaining.